Mustangs Set For American Athletic Conference Championship

Sunday, April 16

Palm Coast, Fla.

All Day

SMU

American Athletic Conference

Mustangs Set For American Athletic Conference Championship

Apr 14 | Women's Golf

American Athletic Conference Championship
Dates	April 16-18, 2017
Location	Hammock Beach Resort – Conservatory Course / Palm Coast, Florida
Host	The American
Championship Central	TheAmerican.org
Live Scoring	Click Here
Watch	Round Three No. 18 & Awards (10 a.m. CT)
SMU Notes	The American Championship
Facebook	SMUGolfW \| SMU Mustangs
Twitter	@SMUGolfW \| @SMUMustangs

DALLAS (SMU) -- The SMU women's golf team heads to Florida for the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championship hosted at the Hammock Beach Resort Conservatory Course in Palm Coast, April 16-18. The Mustangs are paired with UCF and Houston in Sunday's opening round, teeing off at 9:40 a.m. ET/8:40 a.m. CT. Pairings for rounds two and three will be based on the team's placement following the previous round. Results can be found at golfstatresults.com, and a live stream of the 18th hole will be available via The American's website on Tuesday.

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Representing The Mustangs:
Lindsey McCurdy / Brigitte Dunne / Ana Paula Ramirez / Faith Summers / Kenzie Wright

Tournament Schedule:
Sunday, April 16: First Round, 9:40 a.m. ET/8:40 a.m. CT
Monday, April 17: Second Round, Based on team position after round one
Tuesday, April 18: Third Round, Based on team position after round two

The Field: The Mustangs are the second highest ranked team in the Golfstat rankings heading into the American Athletic Conference Championships, pairing them with No. 28 UCF and No. 44 Houston.

No. 28 UCF
No. 39 SMU
No. 44 Houston
No. 57 East Carolina
No. 66 Memphis

No. 96 Tulane
No. 106 Tulsa
No. 116 USF
No. 119 Cincinnati

Conference Favorite: Lindsey McCurdy (March 29, March 22) has twice been named the American Athletic Conference Women's Golfer of the Week, while Brigitte Dunne (March 1) has earned the honor once. The three total wins for the Mustangs ties for the most of any team in the conference, while McCurdy's pair of honors also tie for a league-best.

McCurdy and Kenzie Wright were also honored as part of Golfweek's Midseason All-American Athletic Conference team for their play last fall.

Last Time Out: The Mustangs finished seventh in the 14-team field at the PING/ASU Invitational. Lindsey McCurdy continued to lead the Mustangs with her seventh top-10 finish in 10 tournaments this season. The senior finished the event with a three-round 2-under 214 to tie for eighth place. The Mustangs posted a 54-hole 14-over 878.

Freshman Kenzie Wright (71-75-72--218) and sophomore Brigitte Dunne (72-75-72--219) both shot even-par 72 on the final 18 to finish tied for 21st and tied for 25th, respectively. Freshman Ana Paula Ramirez closed out the event with her best round of the weekend, carding a 2-over 74 to give her a three-day total of 15-over 231 to finish tied for 66th. Classmate Faith Summers went 4-over on Sunday to finish 13-over 229, tied for 61st.

In The Record Books: After playing the minimum 15 rounds so far this season, Lindsey McCurdy sits atop the Mustangs' list for season scoring average. In 28 rounds this season, McCurdy has an average score of 71.61. Freshman Kenzie Wright is currently third at 73.39.

In The Rankings: The Mustangs are ranked 39th in the Golfstat rankings heading into the American Athletic Conference Championship, the second highest ranking of participating teams. SMU's highest program ranking came on Oct. 15, when the Ponies ranked 20th following a second-place finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship.

Birdies On Birdies: Heading into The American Championship, Lindsey McCurdy holds the single-season birdies record for the Mustangs with 91 this season. Kenzie Wright and Brigitte Dunne are tied for third on the list at 84, just four off of Alexandra Rossi, who finished the 2014-15 season with 88.

Making It Count: Lindsey McCurdy, Kenzie Wright and Brigitte Dunne have played in all 10 of SMU's tournaments this season. McCurdy leads the way with all 28 rounds counting toward the team score, making her the first Mustang to record this feat with over 28 or more rounds played since Kate Anderson (30 rounds) did the same during the 2006-07 season. Dunne has contributed 27 and Wright 26.

Welcome To The Hilltop: SMU women's golf coach Jeanne Sutherland announced the addition of three student-athletes for the 2017-18 season, as Lauren Chappell, Sophie DiGesualdo and Kennedy Pedigo have signed letters of intent to join the Mustangs.

Charleston High School's Chappell is the only female to win three individual Illinois State Championships, doing so in 2013, 2014 and 2016. She was also the 2016 Illinois Women's State Amateur Champion, and qualified for the 2016 US Junior Girls' Championship. In 2015 and 2016, Chappell was an AJGA Scholastic All-America honorable mention selection, posting seven top-10 finishes, including three in the top five.

Austin, Texas, native DiGesualdo helped Vandegrift High School to Texas State Championship appearances from 2014-2016, following Regional wins in 2015 and 2016 and District Championships each of the three seasons. DiGesualdo tied for ninth at the 2016 5A State Tournament, helping her team to a runner-up finish. During the 2015-16 season, she also posted medalist performances at the 2016 Regional Preview and District Tournament. Overall, DiGesualdo has 16 top-10 finishes for the Vipers and was an All-State, All-Region and All-District selection in 2016.

Pedigo is already having a successful 2017. Pedigo opened the year with a runner-up finish at the Legends Tour event in Corpus Christi, and followed her performance up by winning the Tour's Spring Preview event in March. She also tied for 19th at the Kathy Whitworth Invitational, which plays host to 72 of the world's best junior golfers. Golfweek currently ranks Pedigo fifth on Texas' list for the class of 2017, and 111th on their list of the country's junior golfers.

Trinity Forest: The New Home Of SMU Golf: Trinity Forest Golf Club becomes the new home course for SMU Golf. Trinity Forest will resemble many of the great old courses of the Northeast and Great Britain, featuring a links style course on a rolling meadow with tall native grasses and dramatic bunkering and green complexes. Once complete, Trinity Forest will become the new home of the PGA TOUR's AT&T Byron Nelson Championship as well as an NCAA invitational tournament and additional high-profile professional and amateur events.

The team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw – Coore & Crenshaw, Inc. – is building both the championship golf course as well as the short course. The design of Trinity Forest will honor classic golf courses with traditional, strategic golf and great artistry as the guiding philosophy.

Located in the 6,000 acre Great Trinity Forest near the Trinity River Audubon Center about 10 minutes south of downtown Dallas, the 400 acre site will ultimately consist of an 18-hole championship golf course, a world-class practice facility, a clubhouse, a practice academy for SMU's golf teams and a teaching center for The First Tee of Greater Dallas.

Leader Of The Pack: Head Women's Golf Coach Jeanne Sutherland was named the 2017 Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Founders Award recipient. Sutherland has served as both Vice President and Division I Representative of the WGCA during her coaching career. She also mentors young coaches and writes a blog about coaching and playing competitive golf, along with volunteering with Salvation Army, the Dallas Independent School District and the Dallas Ronald McDonald House.

She began her coaching career in 1992 at Texas A&M, and led the Aggies to 13 tournament crowns and three Big 12 Conference titles. Sutherland was named Conference Coach of the Year four times while at A&M (1995, 1997, 2006, 2007), as well as Regional Coach of the Year twice (1997, 2007). Since arriving at SMU in 2011, Sutherland has led the Mustangs to four consecutive postseason berths (2013-16) and two top-three finishes at the American Athletic Conference Championships. In her career, Sutherland has coached three All-Americans, six conference champions, three conference Players of the Year, three conference Newcomers of the Year, 32 all-conference selections and 25 All-American Scholars.

Midseason Standouts: Lindsey McCurdy and Kenzie Wright were named to the Golfweek Midseason All-American Athletic Conference Team for their performances during the fall portion of the 2016-17 season.

McCurdy posted a pair of top-five finishes, earning runner-up honors at the Mustangs' weather-shortened Trinity Forest Invitational Nov. 7. To open the season, the senior tied for fifth in an 81-player field at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate hosted by Tennessee Sept. 12 & 13. In 13 rounds this season, McCurdy posted rounds of par or better six times, which tied for a team-best. She also led the team with a 71.62 scoring average, posting a season-low round of 68 in her first round of the season.

Wright was second on the team with a 72.54 scoring average and shared the team lead for rounds of par or better (6) with McCurdy. She led the team with three of 13 rounds in the 60s including a team-low 66 in the fall, doing so at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Overall, she had a pair of top-10 finishes, which included a fourth-place finish at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Oct. 17 & 18.

Junior All-American: Kenzie Wright was one of three Dallas-area golfers to be named to the American Junior Golf Association Rolex Junior All-American team. The Frisco, Texas, native won the Joanne Winter Arizona Silver Belle Championship and earned her top 2016 AJGA finish at the Winn Gripps Heather Farr Classic, finishing tied for seventh. Wright has played in all three tournaments to open the 2016-17 season for the Mustangs. Her highest finish came at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Oct. 17 & 18 where she placed fourth. Wright also garnered a top-10 finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship, which included a 6-under 66 final round to place her in a three-way tie for eighth.

Winter Winner: Brigitte Dunne became the second SMU women's golfer to win the Joanne Winter Arizona Silver Belle Championship held at the South Course of Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dunne did so just a year after freshman Kenzie Wright finished atop the field in 2015.

Dunne posted 12 birdies and an unblemished second round en route to the championship, finishing 6-under 210 (70-70-70). However, it would take a playoff hole to secure the victory as Arizona's Haley Moore (68-72-70) came back late for the tie. Moore finished tied for second at the 2016 NCAA Championship as a freshman. Dunne's impressive third round included four birdies on the front nine to open the day, before adding a pair after the turn. The third-round total of six birdies accounted for half of her total for the event.

Four-Ball Qualifiers: Mustang sophomore Brigitte Dunne and recently graduated Alexandra Rossi finished atop the leaderboard at U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying held at the Sherrill Park Golf Course in Richardson, Texas. The pair led the 22-team field carding an unblemished 6-under 66 for the victory. The 2017 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball takes place May 27-31 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

2016 AAC Championship: The 29th-ranked SMU women's golf team carded its best round of 301 on the final day of the American Athletic Conference Championship to finish the tournament in fourth place with a three-round 914. Jenny Haglund (76-70-73—219) finished in a two-way tie for third, with her best round of 2-under coming on Monday.

Haglund was one of two Mustangs to finish inside the top five of the 45-player field. In her first conference championship, Brigitte Dunne (74-78-71--223) tied for fifth at 7-over, which included a 1-under on the final 18 to climb seven spots on the leaderboard.

Haglund has now registered top-three finishes in each of the three American Athletic Conference Tournaments. She took medalist honors as a sophomore, and went on to earn runner-up accolades after a playoff at the 2015 event.

Lindsey McCurdy (80-79-79--238) finished the tournament tied for 25th, while Alexandra Rossi (87-75-78--240) and Katie Page (81-81-83--245) were tied for 31st and 37th, respectively.

League Selections: The Mustangs return a pair of All-American Athletic Conference selections from the 2015-16 season, including Freshman of the Year Brigitte Dunne and Lindsey McCurdy.

Dunne posted her best finish of the year placing fifth at The American Championship. She also posted a pair of top-10 finishes during the 2015-16 season finishing with a 74.41 average. McCurdy posted five top-10 finishes, including an event win at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in September. In 32 rounds, she posted 10 rounds of par or better and shot in the 60s on three occasions.

Mustangs In The Classroom: Katie Page was honored by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) as an All-American Scholar for the third consecutive year after achieving a cumulative grade-point-average above the required 3.50 following the 2015-16 school year. Page played in all 12 of the Mustangs' tournaments during the 2015-16 season, earning her best finish at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in September. Her second top 10 finish came in October at the Alamo Invitational. In 35 rounds last season, Page registered a 75.77 scoring average and posted a low round of 69 at the Clover Cup in March. The Louisville, Kentucky, native is majoring in business with a sport management minor.

All six Mustangs from the 2015-16 roster also earned All-American Athletic Conference academic honors for posting a 3.0 or better grade-point-average last year.